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Aly Shinkle/Wilmington News JournalA visual display was available to the media charting the hierarchical scheme of the Marlena Park Gang.

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Aly Shinkle/Wilmington News JournalA visual display was available to the media charting the hierarchical scheme of the Marlena Park Gang.

Aly Shinkle/Wilmington News JournalScott Kline is arrested at his home Thursday morning for engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a first-degree felony; trafficking in cocaine, a fifth-degree felony and illegal manufacture of drugs, a second-degree felony.

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Aly Shinkle/Wilmington News JournalScott Kline is arrested at his home Thursday morning for engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a first-degree felony; trafficking in cocaine, a fifth-degree felony and illegal manufacture of drugs, a second-degree felony.

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Forty people were arrested, three cars were seized and various amounts of cash and drugs were confiscated Thursday in an alleged drug ring, according to authorities.

Wilmington Police Chief Duane Weyand, who spoke at a press conference in Warren County Friday morning, said officers also confiscated black tar heroin, a rare form of heroin that has only been seen once before in Clinton County.

The investigation was a collaborative effort conducted by the Wilmington Police Department and the Greater Warren County Drug Task Force. Seventy-two individuals were charged as a result of the investigation that lasted more than one year. Some of the individuals have yet to be taken into custody.

The investigation began with several drug purchases originating from the Wilmington area leading to Dayton. In the midst of the operation, investigators found a large-scale drug operation organized in a hierarchical structure indicating a widespread problem spanning multiple counties, according to the WPD.

The hierarchical structure became known as the Marlena Park Gang, a reference to a park in southeast Wilmington.

Weyand told the News Journal the investigation took longer than what he would like because the WPD had learned that many people were bringing drugs into the community and “we were trying to solve that problem and send a message to the drug traffickers of Dayton, Columbus or Greene County that we’re going to come after you, and we proved that by executing search warrants in other counties stemming from this investigation.”

He said the operation was made possible through multiple tips made by concerned citizens.

“We apologize that we couldn’t act quicker on some of these because it acted on such a large-scale drug operation, but we’re grateful to have such community support to call this stuff in.”

Weyand said his department received a lot of positive feedback from the community while law enforcement personnel were out executing search warrants Thursday.

Wilmington experienced an explosion of heroin use, prior to the start of the operation. According to a media release, the area experienced a 632-percent increase in overdose-related calls for service within the last 18-month period.

In addition to drug trafficking, welfare fraud was also a target of the operation. The media release stated the total loss prevention to Ohio Job and Family Services by indicting those arrested will save more than $100,000 per year in Clinton County.

The police department worked with multiple undercover operations involving surveillance, direct purchase of narcotics and multiple confidential sources in order to tackle the problem in Clinton County, the media release said.

“I would really like to thank the officers of the Wilmington Police Department for their hard work and making this round-up a success,” Weyand said. “The Wilmington Police Department is committed to serving our citizens and solving the drug problem, not just in Wilmington, but wherever our investigation takes us.”